TBA
by Fire Light1
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate a case in Houston, Texas, involving unexplained deaths of members of a racing yard.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer; Unfortunately I do not happen to own any of the recognisable characters in this piece. Sorry if you do happen to own them but I was only having a bit of fun!

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It was Dark. The all soul consuming blackness that not even nighttime cannot bring. Something dreadful had happened here, something unimaginable to even the most savage of human thoughts. It was going to happen again and this time no one could see it coming.

A high pitch wail of anguish echoed; the space was enclosed yet infinite. There was no telling how long the darkness continued, or if it ever came to an end.

She cried out again, in anger not in pain, but it was anger so strong that it made the air close in tight around her. Feeding of the noise in such a silent place. Over and over she twisted, her hands pressing up against unseen barriers. There was no light to see her by but somehow he knew her name. There was no escape. All hope was left in the shadows of long distant memories. No help. No warning. Alone, her exhausted hands grasping ahead a million times over, until she fell silent and dropped to the ground.

It was over. A final drawn out moan uttered from her mouth, that held both fear andhopelessnessin its resounding notes. He called out with her, until all that remained was the remnants of their voices, and the cool emptiness of nothing.

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3.56am

Mulders' Apartment

He sat bolt upright. For a moment everything was blank. He held the standard issue handgun pointing out across the room. The click of the safety being flicked off was enough to wake him.

Cold sweat ran down his face and chest, the covers of the bed were pulled back and laid in a heap on the floor. Taking in a few shaky breaths he put the weapon back in the draw, remembering to put the safety back on, before stumbling sideways towards the bathroom.

He was alone: The apartment was silent except for the distant noise of traffic a few blocks away.

" Shit …" Mulder gasped, running his fingers through his hair as he searched the mirror for his reflection. Slowly the last images of the dream were coming back to him. So solid and real he had to put one hand out to steady himself.

Without thinking he went to pick up the cordless phone laying on the table, and speed-dialled no.1. The phone rang three times before an answer message kicked in. Sighing, but more urgent now, he reached for the mobile thrust deep in the pocket of the jacket slung over a chair in the kitchen. This time the phone rang for at least five minutes before someone picked up. For a moment there was silence and then a very groggy voice sang joy to his ears.

" Scully. This had better be good. " A long silence followed " Mulder?"

He made a small noise of acknowledgement. She sounded really pissed off. Looking across to the alarm clock that blinked in angry red digits that it was 4.07am. The faint grey light that bled in from the windows backed up this fact.

" Are you there?" Maybe he shouldn't have called. "Is everything okay?"

" Yes, Sorry. I was just checking that it was still okay for the flight" He mumbled.

"We went through this on Friday, you were going to come and pick me up at seven, which means that I still have another two hours in bed."

"You don't want to meet up and go over the case?"

" We have a 3 hour flight, Mulder"

"Okay then, see you at seven"

Her end of the phone clicked dead. He looked back towards the bedroom, and then back to the kitchen. It was no use; he wasn't going to get any more sleep. It was time to confront the last two days of dirty dishes waiting for his attention.

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Somewhere above Texas

12.42am

The plane jerked as it hit the rising thermals over the flat dusty plains of cowboy country. Scully shifted in her seat, trying to place all her attention in reading the contents of an anomalous brown folder lying open in her lap. To her right, her dosing partner grunted in his sleep, and began to slowly slump into a deeper slumber, pressing all his weight across her shoulder. A young teenager in the seat in front sniggered as Mulder began to snore.

"We are currently preparing for our descent. Please return to your seats and return all trays to their upright positions" The intercom announced " There may be a spot of turbulence as we touch down"

_Great, _She thought sarcastically, folding the paperwork back into her bag. Mulder was now leaning all the way across, pinning her to her seat. The stewardess raised her eyebrow as she passed on the final check, asking if she should wake him. Scully shrugged. She had a pretty good hunch that Mulder had not sleep at all last night, and he was no good to either of them exhausted.

As the plane trembled to a halt, he jerked awake, seeming surprised that it was tarmac, not clouds, outside the windows.

"Good morning"

"Good afternoon you mean" Scully said, as they began to file out into the backing heat of Houston " I hope you caught up on the sleep you lost last night because we have to meet the sheriff in an hour, and navigate our way out of here" She spread her arms to gesture at the size of Bush International Airport. At least it was air conditioned, outside the temperatures soared to 95 Fahrenheit, andthey were right in the middle of one of the worst droughts that decade.

Mulder yawned and then headed over to the baggage area.

"I'll just go and grab some coffee then" She said spotting Starbucks out of the corner of her eye. It was going to be a long day!


	2. Chapter 2

2.00pm

Bush International Airport

Houston Texas

"So let me get this straight, why are we heading out to Texas?"

"I thought you'd read the file"

"Uh huh" She swore under her breath as boiling hot coffee slurped over the side of the polystyrene cup, as Mulder tried desperately to navigate the complexities of the car park. Picking up the rental car had been no problem, leaving the airport was another issue.

"Exit!" He yelped triumphantly, a large grin breaking out across his face.

"Still, it does not explain why we are here. A wealthy mans well-established training yard seems to being victimised, maybe a revenge act? Maybe pure coincidence? How can you possibly link all these seemingly random events; firstly what appears to be a puma attack on a pair on a trail ride, secondly a winning race horse drops dead 4 feet from the finish line and thirdly over the last month 4 jockeys have disappeared without giving notice"

"Don't forget the groom"

"Struck by lightning? Storms are hardly uncommon out here and as for the jockeys, they can be notorious for disappearing off to the other side of the country if they think the going is good … what are we _really_ doing out here?"

"There was no evidence for the puma attack, the two horses and riders just disappeared. One of them, Isabel Roulande was the cousin of Christopher Roulande the guy who inherited all this from his father…"

"The senator … so this guy has connections. Is that why we're here?"

"I thought after our last trip you might appreciate a bit of sun"

"Nice try but I'm not buying it, I don't get it Mulder, there is no evidence that anything in going on down here that the locals can't sort out, no monsters no mad axe murders, just a few unexplained disappearances and weird coincidences …"

"When has that stopped me?"

Scully shut her mouth and glared at him half-heartedly; she was too weary to push it any further.

2.45pm

Outskirts of Houston

The Roulande Racing Establishment

Clouds of dust billowed up as the 4x4 bumped down the long drive towards the ranch house. As they moved closer the parched landscaped began to turn green, and white railings restrained the well-maintained pastureland. A sign warning of guard dogs stood 200 yards from a gravel yard where a red pick up truck, two unmarked police cars and a large horse lorry was parked. As Mulder reversed back to find a space in the shade of some out buildings, Scully peered out of the rear view window.

An argument of sorts was occurring; the engine of the horse lorry was rumbling to a start whilst the driver shouted out of the wound down window.

"You signed a contract!" The man on the ground shouted up to him.

"You said that you would ensure the security of my property"

"Sunday was an accident, no one could have seen it coming, the vet report found no evidence that the horse had been tampered with"

"A fully fit racehorse does not just drop dead!"

"These things do happen and I and all my training staff are still very worked up over it, however this yard will always be safe. No one has been near the horses before now, and I intend to keep it that way in the future. You are missing an opportunity here, we have always gotten the best from your stock, Mr. Williams, and will continue to do so if you could only care to reconsider …"

"Good luck with that" Mr Williams sneered, pushing down on the accelerator. The man on the ground had to leap out of the way as the lorry sped up the driveway.

"Looks like we arrived just in time, Scully" Mulder grinned, as they stepped out; the heat hitting them like a wall; already they had ditched their standard jackets.

"Can I help you two?"

"I am special Agent Fox Mulder and this is Special Agent Dana Scully" They flashed their ID "We came to meet detective Wight"

"I'm sorry you had to see that" The man nodded "It's the fourth client to leave this week. All this isn't good for business. Glad to meet you two, I'm Keith Andrews, yard manager" Keith was in his early 40s, tall, serious and looked like he had an eye for business. His hands were hard and strong from all the years of work out on the ranch.

"Are the owners around?" Scully enquired, as they walked through an archway into one of two American style barns. Most of the horse stalls where full, their occupants pushing up against the half doors as they passed. She reached over to pat one on the neck, noting how immaculate the stabling was. Even the air did not smell of horses!

"The family spend their time between out here and their two properties in the city; with all the media attention centred on the yard they decided to lay low for a while"

"We will need an address where we can contact them"

"Not a problem, if you need me I will be up on the gallops. Although all this has disrupted things, we have to maintain some state of normality."

"Did you know the jockey well? When was the last time you saw him?"

"I spoke to him once, a few days before the race when he came up to try out the horse"

"Did you notice anything odd, Mr. Andrews?"

" I see 20 or 30 jockeys a week and their was nothing any different to him that the others. I gave a statement to the cops about all this; could you let me get back to the horses?"

"Sure, but we might need to be in touch" Mulder nodded as the man handed over his contact details, they left him to walk in the direction of the other stable block before greeting the 3 cops talking in the shade of a beach tree. After the formal introductions and a lot of frowning and looking up and down they began to talk about the task of finding the cousin of one of the most influencal men in the area.

"Can you take us to where she went missing?" Scully enquired

"Have you got any background checks on the guy she was with? What about the horse?" Mulder pushed

"It's been three days now, and still nothing. I reckon you guys are just wasting your time out here … its bound to be a mountain lion. They where up in the rocks, a good 2 hour ride from here, impossible to reach by car." Wrights partner Temples said gruffly. They all looked hot and bothered, as if the whole thing was a pure nuisance, preventing them from their _real_ work.

"They sent 2 helicopters and a foot party to scout the area they were heading towards even though they could have easily missed something, this landscape is so vast that people still go missing out here, even with sat nav and all that" Wright nodded in agreement.

"Even so we would like to see it for ourselves" Scully pushed looking up at the detective who for a minute looked like he was going to make a wise crack but changed his mind.

"Can you ride Miss?" He asked with a not too friendly smile.

"We can drive"

"I told you, you won't get a mile of the track before you need to call out a rescue team to dig you guys out …"

"Maybe its not such a bad idea, you might see things from a different angle" Temples was taking Wrights challenge literally, he was a good deal younger than Wright with something that gave the essence that he had Indian blood; with his dark skin and searching eyes.

"Yeah well, better take a rifle; I swear that cat's back" The third cop, Mark Shepard, skinny and close shaved spoke up.

"What cat?" Mulders' eyes began to light up.

"There was some trouble with a pair of mountain lions that came down of the rocks last year, the cattle started to disappear and a few stock horses but none from this place" Temples answered "They sure got my brother bad though, he lost a good few calving heifers"

"I don't think that has anything to do with this " Wright muttered "I can get those background records for you Mr.Mulder, we have a load of paperwork back at the office that I can get sent round this evening. Where are you staying?"

"We saw a couple of motels on our way over" He shrugged, unaware of the sigh of annoyance from his partner. "I'll come and collect them tomorrow morning, I managed to get hold of the veterinarian to go through the autopsy"

"The horse? I thought you were here to find the girl?"

"We'd be grateful if you could spare us someone to show us the area they went missing from"

"Keith's the man for that"

"I'll give him a call, in the meantime I'll let you guys get on; I know how busy it can get out here" Like a flash the cops quickly departed, relived to be released.

"You do?" Scully raised an eyebrow.

"They were a helpful bunch, hey Scully?"

"I still don't see what's going on here"

"Doesn't that make it all the more interesting? Lets have a peak around while no one's looking …"

Scully smiled but then glanced up to the gallops, partly obscured by more beach trees and the roofs of the barns she could just about make out the silhouettes of 5 or 6 horses.

"They won't be long, it looks like they're winding down"

"You sound like you know a few things about this racing business"

"I do?"

"You seemed impressed with the animals in the barn back there"

"Well I guess there are some things that will have to keep you guessing"

"Full of surprises … I guess you have ridden then?"

"Not for a long time"

Her voice sounded taught with something that he couldn't quite put his finger on, so he just nodded and got on with the task in hand. They searched the feed room and found nothing but typical foodstuffs, the tack room was unsurprisingly bolted shut and the house which was a good distance from the stables was shadowed in darkness, all the blinds pulled tight. Most of the stables where either occupied or had signs that they recently had been, all the horses seemed well cared for.

"I don't think that they've been outside for a while," Scully said, running her hand down the neck of a grey gelding that was investigating the contents of her pockets.

"I don't suppose that they would have been with all the scare that someone drugged that one" Mulder commented, standing just out of reach of the curious gelding. He eyed it suspiciously, "You know I don't have a clue what that horse is thinking"

"He's okay, it's the one next door you need to watch out for" She looked over the railings to the bright bay mare that immediately thrust her head towards them, ears flat against her neck. Mulder immediately took a few steps back, whilst Scully couldn't help but let a small smile of amusement cross her face.

"Someone is coming" He said quietly, a few moments later a young girl appeared in the open end of the barn.

"Hey!" She yelled "You shouldn't be here, have you any idea how much trouble you could be in?"

She still didn't approach, but didn't back away either. They couldn't make out her face due to the light pouring in from the yard behind but she was short, and shifted under the weight of what Scully identified as a hay net

"Its okay, we spoke to Mr.Williams to help find the missing girl," Scully shouted, showing her badge, curiously the young girl approached and then sighed in relief.

"You still shouldn't be in here, no one is to go near the horses," She said boldly, swinging the hay net into an occupied stall.

"Mr. Andrews said it would be okay if we had a look round" Mulder explained "But we're leaving now, tell him to give me a call if he has any questions"

"Okay" the girl pocketed his card "I will do, have you found out what happened to Henry?"

"Henry?"

"His show name is Past Twilight … the stallion who fell at the weekend?"

"Oh, I assure you we are going to be looking into it Miss.."

"Just Amy, Keith lets me work here during the holidays"

"Well, when we do figure out what's going on round here we'll make sure to pass it on" Mulder said, before they said their goodbyes and left, relieved to be able to start the ac in the 4x4. "I don't know about you but all that horsing around has left me ravenous"

Scully allowed herself the faintest of smiles at the pun, but concentrated in plotting out the motels on the outdated pocket map they'd picked up at the airport. The light in the sky was beginning to change to the soft golden tones of late evening, and the heat beginning to subside a little. She snuffed a yawn, suddenly reminded how tired she was. She desperately needed to head in early tonight for tomorrows schedule. She felt her eyelids begin to fall, and slowly fell into a peaceful slumber.

Noticing she'd grown quiet, Mulder peered over his shoulder to ask if he was heading in the right direction as they pulled up to a crossroads. In either direction the flat landscape stretched out with not a soul to be seen, in the far distance a purple haze identified the far off mountains and a few blimps on the horizon shells of abandoned ranch houses, long reclaimed by the red dust of the plains. Taking his chances he decided to drive straight on, not knowing when they would find civilisation again.

* * *

Is it too long/complicated? More exciting things will happen in the next chapter I promise, I'm just getting all the main characters sorted. I know about European riding but am no expert on american horse racing, but hopefully your imagienation can make up for that one. Anyone got a suggetion about the title? I was going to call it 'nightmares' or something similar, but it does'nt quite fit yet. I also was'nt sure whether or not to dig up some history about the UFO cattle abductions in the 1960s ... let me know what you think. Any veiws appriciated! 


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